Thijs Booij, «Psalm 133: "Behold, how good and how pleasant"», Vol. 83 (2002) 258-267

The opening line of Psalm 133 is, literally, about a social practice; the comparisons following it suggest that in fact a gathering of YHWH’s worshippers is meant. The latter is confirmed by the final line. V. 3a has a bridging function in that its last words ("on the mountains of Zion"), although belonging to the imagery of the comparison, are actually direct expression, relating to the statement of v. 1 (‘inversion’). The situation hinted at can hardly be other than the gathering in Jerusalem on the occasion of a religious festival. In view of the subtle structure and inner cohesion of Psalm 133, it is scarcely plausible that its present meaning is due to some form of adaptation.

        (a) A simile can be explicit or implicit: what it intends to indicate may be expressly mentioned as the point of comparison ("sharp as a two edged sword", Prov 5,4), or may just be suggested ("I will make you like a warrior’s sword", Zech 9,13). If the simile is implicit, it is related to the metaphor: statements such as "Your eyes are doves" (Cant 4,1) and "Your eyes are like doves" being clearly equivalent³⁵. If the simile is explicit, it is related to the metaphor in what goes beyond the stated point of comparison³⁶. "The man is as brave as a lion" can be worded: The man is brave; in his bravery, a lion. In Psalm 133, the similes of vv. 2 and 3a are related to the metaphor in that they specify the notions ‘good’ and ‘pleasant’ of v. 1³⁷.
        (b) In ancient Hebrew texts the affinity between simile and metaphor is particularly manifest when the two of them alternate in poetic parallelism. This is, for instance, the case in Isa 49,2³⁸:

He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me away. 

        Together with the alternation of simile and metaphor, the text shows another interesting feature, to wit the entwining of figurative and direct (non-figurative) expression. Parts of text that from a formal point of view might be expected to be meant literally (viz. the statements on ‘hiding’ and ‘hiding away’) in fact belong to the imagery of simile and metaphor. This ‘inversion’, as a literary design, is not uncommon in Hebrew poetry³⁹ and occurs in the opposite form as well. An interesting example is found in Prov 20,27⁴⁰:

The human spirit is a lamp of YHWH,
searching all the innermost parts. 

        The ‘innermost parts’ - lit. ‘rooms of the belly’- are the seat of emotions and aspirations⁴¹; the ‘spirit’ (or ‘breath’, hm#$n), as a lamp, can be called a ‘lamp of YHWH’ since it comes from YHWH himself (Gen 2,7; Job 33,4; 34,14). Searching, though it can be done with a lamp (Zeph 1,12), is a conscious action, carried out by the human spirit in this text. So a word (‘searching’) that formally belongs to the imagery of the metaphor⁴², is in fact direct